


impossible things (are happening every day)

by preciousthings



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Bill Denbrough Thinks Exclusively In Run-On Sentences and Intense Feelings, First Kiss, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Post-Canon Fix-It, Stanley Uris Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 05:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21156269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preciousthings/pseuds/preciousthings
Summary: As a kid, Stan was— the fucking best, basically. He was Bill’s best friend, and one of the smartest, funniest people Bill had ever met. Stan now is just— a goddamnvision. He’s still incredibly smart, and he’s grown into his looks, and Billwantsso much.He can’t leave Derry again without going for it this time.They all made it out of Neibolt alive, and if that’s not a sign, Bill doesn’t know what is. Seven in, seven out of a situation that easily could have killed them all with nothing more than some cuts and bruises is some kind of miracle. So fuck if he's going to wait any longer for this.





	impossible things (are happening every day)

**Author's Note:**

> for rhia, who prompted this on my twitter (the prompt was stenbrough + a kiss after the world is saved)
> 
> losta handwaving required here because canon isn't fair, this takes place in a universe where bill and stan are both unmarried when they get to derry. it just be like that, i'm the queen of this universe

It doesn't sink in for a few hours, that they actually killed It. It’s not until Bill jumps into the quarry next to his best friends for the first time since that first day with Bev 27 years ago that it actually feels like they did something big. He jumps, and he’s falling, and he feels _ free _ now, free from this thing he hadn’t even realized had a hold on his life. He hits the water first, hears six more splashes in rapid succession before he even comes up for air.

The seven of them— lucky fucking seven— saved Derry.

They hadn’t even been seven the last time they were here but when Bill looks back on that day now, there had been a space, like the universe was trying to tell them they weren’t complete yet. Now they are, and it sounds so fucking simple, even if all of this— these friendships, and the last 27 years of his life— have been anything but.

When Bill finally breaks above the surface of the water, Stan is looking at him. It’s something he’s seen before, a familiar feeling, he realizes; Stan used to look at him like this when they were kids. Bill hadn’t thought anything of it then, if anything, he just— liked that Stan was looking at him at all. 

He was a kid with a crush, and he’s mostly only realizing that now at 40 years old, nothing has changed.

It's taken a lot to get here; he lost Stan for years. When Bill was 13 and could barely fathom the concept of love, he knew he liked the way he felt around Stan. And today— God, today, they saved the fucking world, and Bill's still in love with Stan. 

As a kid, Stan was— the fucking best, basically. He was Bill’s best friend, and one of the smartest, funniest people Bill had ever met. Stan now is just— a goddamn _ vision_. He’s still incredibly smart, and he’s grown into his looks, and Bill _ wants _ so much. 

He can’t leave Derry again without going for it this time.

They all made it out of Neibolt alive, and if that’s not a sign, Bill doesn’t know what is. Seven in, seven out of a situation that easily could have killed them all with nothing more than some cuts and bruises is some kind of miracle. So fuck if he's going to wait any longer for this. He taps Stan on the shoulder and swims out a bit, away from the rest of the group; Stan follows. 

“Hey,” Stan says. “Is everything okay?”

"I’m going to do something crazy, but I need you to know that I've been wanting to do this since we were, like, fifteen," Bill says. "A lot of things that felt impossible three days ago have already happened, so why not one more—”

Stan leans in and kisses Bill first. They’re still on the same wavelength after all this time.

"Get it, Denbrough!" Bev shouts, and another one of their friends whistles in the distance. Bill laughs against Stan's lips. He suspects Bev had always sort of known. 

"That was well worth the wait, I'd say," Stan says, splashing Bill. Bill splashes back and leans in again, just because he can now.

“We did wait a really long time for that, huh.” 

“I don’t think I would have been ready, then.”

Bill nods, silently agreeing. He honestly doesn’t think he would have been either. If he was, they would’ve been a lot younger for their first kiss. But it’s okay, Bill thinks, because he still got a first kiss with Stan. 

“You still think too much. I can _ see _ you thinking,” Stan says, pressing a kiss to Bill’s temple. Bill drops his head down to rest against Stan’s shoulder, his arms coming up to wrap around Stan’s waist.

“Would you prefer it if I didn’t think at all?” 

“Save it for later.” Stan takes his hand, smiling, and swims back over to the rest of the group. 

“Lovebirds,” Richie says, in place of an actual greeting. 

“You’re one to talk,” Stan says, and Bill sees his eyes dart from Richie to Eddie and back knowingly. 

There was always something there, too, wasn’t there? How is it that Bill is only just seeing all of this now?

“We’ll get there,” Richie mutters.

It feels hopeful. Like, all of the dread that Bill had been feeling coming back to Derry is gone, replaced with love for the six people around him and a little bit of extra for the one holding his hand underwater, and hope for a future with all of these people in it. So much fucking hope he can hardly believe it.

  


“I don’t want to forget this,” Bill says into the darkness later that night, when it’s just him and Stan in bed together. This is another familiar feeling; it’s not the first time he’s shared a bed with Stan, but it _ is _ the first time they’ve rolled into bed together, sharing kisses for the better part of an evening. 

“To be fair, I think there are parts of the past three days I’d like to forget,” Stan says.

He does have a point. 

“Less Bill Denbrough, maybe,” he adds, deadpan. When Bill turns his head, he sees the smirk on Stan’s lips. 

“You’re joking, right?” Bill asks, just to make sure. He is _ not _ paranoid about this. Nope. 

“No, get out of my bed.” Stan is trying for serious, but Bill knows him better than that, knows that Stan is barely hiding the laughter behind his voice. He breaks eventually, and Bill does too. He rolls over so he’s half-laying on Stan. “So you’re just saying fuck pillows, I’ll use Stan instead now?” 

“Convenient,” Bill shrugs and turns his head just enough to press a kiss to Stan’s chest. 

They lie there after that in comfortable silence, Stan throws an arm over Bill’s waist; they’re all tangled up, sharing the same space, but Bill’s pretty sure he’s never been more comfortable in bed with someone else. He hasn’t slept since he left LA, and now that he’s finally in a bed again, in bed with _ Stan _, sleep just won’t come. Bill listens as Stan’s breathing evens out. They’re both finally letting themselves relax.

Bill thought Stan had already fallen asleep when Stan stirs a little, whispers, “I don’t want to forget this either. I wonder if anything changes now that It’s dead. I mean— all of my scars are gone, Bill. I can’t help but think that maybe we won’t forget this time. Is that me having too much hope?” 

Bill shakes his head. “You’ve always been the bravest of us. I think having hope now makes you really fucking brave.”

“It’s just— we both have lives, right, and jobs, and a lot of shit that we’d have to figure out,” Stan says. “But I really don’t want to forget _ you _. I don’t care if I forget everything else about this town. I can’t let myself forget you and our friends again.” 

“Hey,” Bill twists his head so he’s looking at Stan. “We don’t have to have everything figured out right now. We just have to do one thing right now: not forget.” 

Figuring out logistics is the next step, labeling whatever this is, figuring out how their lives fit together, but it’s a bridge they’ll cross eventually. They aren’t there yet. Bill won’t say it tonight, he might not even say it this _ month_, but he can write books from wherever Stan is. It’s easier for him to up and move his entire life than it would be for Stan. Bill knows this, and he’s pretty sure he’d do it tomorrow if Stan asked. 

“Because that was so easy last time,” Stan says. Bill can _ hear _ him rolling his eyes.

“We know what we’re up against now,” Bill says. “You and me against the world, Stan the man.” 

Stan groans at the nickname, but he’s laughing against Bill. “I really fucking like you, Bill.” 

“I really fucking like you, too,” Bill says. He drops his head down against Stan’s chest again

_ I can’t forget him_, Bill thinks, as his mind finally quiets and he lets himself sleep, _ I can’t_. He holds onto this like a mantra. A promise. 

  


**bill** **  
**just landed in LA! i have not forgotten about you

**stan**  
I’m sorry, who is this? 

**bill**  
stanley. 

**stan** **  
** Bill Denbrough can’t take a joke?  
I’ve been home for two days and everything is still there

**bill** **  
** not when that joke has to do with forgetting my boyfriend again  
think we finally beat this for good?

**stan**  
It would appear that way  
Now get home so I can call you

**bill**  
looking forward to it  
:) 

**Author's Note:**

> the title is from "impossible" from the r&h musical-ization of cinderella :)
> 
> https://66.media.tumblr.com/0e00d18b32dac03ee5504744793feaf1/50c1defd2051eaad-8a/s1280x1920/0439b65ac843910840b24f8ab04b80c454ff4d13.jpg


End file.
